Here, Now and Always

Across cultures, spring is a season of renewal.

For indigenous cultures throughout the Southwest—the Pueblo Indians, the Apaches, the Diné (Navajo) Nation and others—spring is a time for honoring the cycle of life with ceremonies and traditions that emphasize renewal.

In spring 2019, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture will celebrate the revitalization of its popular core permanent exhibition Here, Now and Always. In reviving this space of beauty and learning, the museum recommits to its mission and the Native communities it represents. The project renews and strengthens the museum’s tradition of utilizing tribal partnerships. This collaboration will create a twenty-first-century exhibition that illustrates how the past informs the future, and advances the museum as a resource for understanding Native life, art and culture today.

When Here, Now and Always opened in 1997 after 10 years in the making, it was celebrated nationally as a visionary new exhibition model that utilized the voices and participation of Native peoples in its creation. Today, in assessing the exhibition’s lessons and legacies, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture has turned again to its tribal partners to revitalize Here, Now and Always with new perspectives, technologies and exhibition techniques that share the ever-evolving cultural histories and identities of Native peoples.

The revitalization will refresh the exhibition’s central stories and themes by presenting the shared and individual narratives of Native peoples across the Southwest. Gallery spaces will be re-imagined and transformed with new scholarship and state-of-the-art displays that re-engage visitors in the transformative experience of Native life and culture. Select artifacts from the museum’s extensive collections will strengthen the narrative and allow for the important conservation of objects from the original display.

All told, the updates will emphasize the endurance of Native communities and traditions through time while reflecting the changes and challenges of modern-day life. As a result, visitors’ understanding and experience of the rich beauty, profound traditions and powerful resilience of Native peoples will be enhanced.